Using Your Thoughts to Better Your Life

As I closed the out the year of 2017, I couldn’t help but feel a little emotional about all of the changes in my life. I had a great year, and I could chalk it up to a lot of different factors: my support system, coffee, late nights, luck etc. In reality though, no matter how many hours you’re clocking in the office, how much caffeine you consume, or how diligent you are about never walking underneath a ladder, your life is a direct result of your attitude. Your thoughts carry so much weight, and that fact is equal parts terrifying and empowering.

I’ve talked before about the law of attraction, a phenomenon that I wholeheartedly believe in. You have the ability to manifest situations and outcomes in your life if you truly focus on them and believe that they’re available to you. I’m also a big believer in the power of positive energy and good vibes. I think that you create your own sunshine when you think on the bright side. If you focus on everything that is going wrong in your life or that you don’t have, your life will seem empty. You’ll walk around kicking rocks, hanging your head, and feeling dejected.

Buuuut it doesn’t have to be like that. I wanted to elaborate on some more on ways to really transform your life using your greatest weapon: your mind. Here are some concepts that can help you transform your life and actually do all the things that you say you’d so love to do.

Focus On Your Goals

If you say to yourself, “I’m a loser. Nothing ever goes right for me. This is the best I can do,” or anything along those lines, it will remain true for you. You attract what you focus on. So change your mindset instead to channel thoughts like “Everything I want is available to me. I’m switching to the career I’m really passionate about. I’m moving to that place. I’m going to make X amount of money this year,” or whatever your goal may be.

Positive Affirmations

They will sound ridiculous at first, but you’ve got to keep repeating affirmations, and eventually, you’ll start to believe in them. Your subconscious has a soundtrack that directs a lot of your decisions. You may not even notice it at times, like a soft background music you’ve grown accustomed to hearing. That’s why you may often find yourself feeling stuck in your ways or getting close to a goal only to revert back to bad habits. Sabotaging your desire to get that body or change careers because you feel like you don’t deserve it is often the product of your subconscious thoughts. Think about what you really want and create affirmations to reflect your ability to achieve them.

Gratitude

If you start each day with gratitude and the idea that you’re going to have a great day, it will be so much more likely to happen. Suddenly you feel like you have more and more is available to you. Wait, where did this abundance come from, thin air? Kind of. It’s from your attitude. If you find it difficult to do this, you can start by writing down three things you’re thankful for every day. It can be as small as what you had for breakfast that morning or as big as your support system.

Get Visual

The power of visualization cannot be understated. If there is something you really want, you need to have a clear picture of the end result in your mind, or better, an actual picture that you look at every day. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Drake said that he bought the exact mansion that was his desktop image before he was signed. The exact one. Jim Carrey wrote himself a check for $10 million post-dated ten years before he made it big, and nine years later he made that amount. This stuff is insanely powerful. Create a vision board, set your screensaver, write yourself a check, whatever. Surround yourself with images and get really specific about your goals.

Cut Out Negative Nancys

Cutting ties with people is intimidating and usually involves some guilty feelings, but sometimes it’s necessary to save your own sanity. If you’re around people who are taking more than they give, draining your energy, or constantly complaining, they’re probably dragging you down too. Don’t feel bad about cutting ties with negative people. Energy is contagious so surround yourself with positive people who make things happen instead of whining about them.

It’s not always easy to keep your head up. We all have days when it seems like everything that could have possibly gone wrong did. You guys have seen my videos. You know that life with two kids occasionally kicks my butt and sometimes work is so jam-packed that it takes everything I have to keep my life running smoothly. But instead of spiraling into a hopeless web and feeling sorry for myself, I keep my chin up, seek out the positives, and focus on making things happen.

Hope these concepts help you guys as much as they help me. Keep after it this year!